Learn by happiness, not by pressure

The politicians here in Sweden are worried, the Swedish
students results in the PISA tests (Programme for International
Student Assessment) are not approving, right now Sweden is low
down on the list. Everybody knows that we need to change
something in the way Swedish schools are structured. We look up
to the high-scoring country South Korea, and trying to understand
what they are doing right, and what we are missing. But are they
good role models? Is their way of teaching the right way to
go?

I'm a Swedish student, grown and raised here in Sweden. One thing
that really marked me all my life is the thought of
self-independence. We learn from a young age that we need to have
our own way of thinking, that our independence is important. Both
my parents and my teachers have always told me that.

Learn with your heart
In my childhood my father told me that learning should be about
joy and curiosity, and that has really helped me all my life. It
is something that I strongly believe in. That’s why I get upset
with how they are trying to change the Swedish school system.

A couple of years back we could heard on the news about students'
bad grades, and this year’s PISA results showed that Sweden’s
rank had dropped. The politicians are trying to understand why,
and what they could change in the education system to improve the
grades. They are using South Korea as a good example.

The South Korean wonder child
South Korea is best in PISA. They are scoring high in almost
every subject. Many people trying to understand how they could
have such big of a success. It's a combination of many things.
The first is that education is extremely important to survive in
South Korea (more than in Sweden). The students with the highest
grades are getting into the best university, and the people from
the best university are going to get the best jobs. One other
thing, different from Sweden, is that in South Korea, the
youngsters of the family are expected to support the rest of the
family with money when they get a job. This is putting students
under a lot pressure, not just from themselves, but also from
their parents and society. If you do not manage to get good
grades, people look down on you. I can't say that this is the
situation for everyone in Korea but overall it is like this.

South Korean students have crazy long days, they can start school
at eight AM, and end around five PM. After school they often take
extra study classes in special subjects like math, and they don’t
come home before around 10 PM or later. Everything they do in
school is leading up to this one big test at the end of high
school. It’s the most important test of their life, and it’s the
test that decides which university they can go to. That’s why
almost all of the education is structured with a teacher in the
front of the class, that’s speaking, and the students are
expected to take notes. There isn’t much of an interaction
between the pupils and the teacher.
This school system is actually working on the tests, but what is
happening with the head of the students? South Korea has the
highest rate of suicide cases among high school students in the
whole world. Isn’t this a sign that something is wrong? My
opinion is that, we here in Sweden, have something that South
Korea would need.

Keep our students happy
Other tests shows that Swedish students are really good at
speaking, and to take our own solutions. This is a really good
thing to have when you search for a job. For me, communication is
one of the most important skills that you could have. But Sweden
is getting away from this.

Now the pupils in Sweden start to receive grades when they are 12
years old. If you ask me, this is too young. I received my first
grade when I was 14 and that was the perfect time. I was old
enough to understand that the grades aren’t the same as being a
good or a bad person. But it was there, when the grades became
the goal in school, my school pressure started. I don’t think
that it’s going to do anyone any good if they get this in a
younger age. They will focus more on the tests and grades, than
actually learning something.

I believe in the same thing as my father. We need to learn with
curiosity. I'm afraid that we will destroy the children’s joy to
learn, by pressuring them more in school. We know that this way
of teaching is working on tests (like in South Korea), but also
that the physical health of the students is getting worse because
due to pressure. I don’t want a world where everything is about
grades and money. A world with young people who feel bad because
of a school system that we all created. I want happiness,
curiosity and independence, a place where learning is something
fun. This would be our goal in the future. Don’t you agree?